And The Most Misleading DVD Cover of the Week Award Goes To...
I'm not sure if the DVD cover for 1949's Holiday Affair was inspired by a movie poster or what but it certainly gives a misleading impression of the movie in question. Which is a big shame because Holiday Affair doesn't really need such a false image. It's that rarity of rarities: a holiday movie that is both actually good and yet not overexposed.
I'll admit that star Robert Mitchum seems an unlikely candidate for a Christmas movie. However, he and fellow star Janet Leigh make a lovely couple, and I was surprised by how quickly I was drawn into their story.
The story begins when Leigh's character Connie Ennis goes to the department store where Mitchum's character Steve Mason is employed and inadvertently attracts his attention. Mason soon discovers that Ennis is a comparison shopper (an occupation discouraged by his department store), but instead of turning her in like he should, he takes pity on her and allows her to make a refund. Unfortunately, he loses his job as a result.
He confronts Ennis about this. Ennis feels guilty and allows him to buy her lunch. Complications ensue -- especially when Ennis's boyfriend and would-be husband-to-be Carl Davis finds out about Mason -- and both Mason and Ennis find their lives changed in a way neither of them would have anticipated.
Sound like a typical romcom? Maybe. But it's a nicely done romcom and not the type that has most sensible people grinding their teeth at the ridiculousness of the characters' actions. Especially refreshing is the movie's refusal to make Davis the classic “bad boyfriend.” Instead he's presented as a genuinely nice guy who is quite sympathetic but unfortunately not the type of person to whom Ennis is likely to be attracted. He even has a scene in which he recognizes this and deals with it in a mature fashion.
This film very easily could have been awful in different hands and I suspect the recent made-for-TV remake is not quite as interesting as the original. The original, unfortunately, has never gained the same attention as the more famous holiday films of the 1940s -- Holiday Inn, It's a Wonderful Life, and of course, Miracle on 34th Street. But that doesn't mean it deserves to be passed over either.
Just don't judge the movie by the DVD cover. Or for that matter, by this poster:
I'm not sure if the DVD cover for 1949's Holiday Affair was inspired by a movie poster or what but it certainly gives a misleading impression of the movie in question. Which is a big shame because Holiday Affair doesn't really need such a false image. It's that rarity of rarities: a holiday movie that is both actually good and yet not overexposed.
I'll admit that star Robert Mitchum seems an unlikely candidate for a Christmas movie. However, he and fellow star Janet Leigh make a lovely couple, and I was surprised by how quickly I was drawn into their story.
The story begins when Leigh's character Connie Ennis goes to the department store where Mitchum's character Steve Mason is employed and inadvertently attracts his attention. Mason soon discovers that Ennis is a comparison shopper (an occupation discouraged by his department store), but instead of turning her in like he should, he takes pity on her and allows her to make a refund. Unfortunately, he loses his job as a result.
He confronts Ennis about this. Ennis feels guilty and allows him to buy her lunch. Complications ensue -- especially when Ennis's boyfriend and would-be husband-to-be Carl Davis finds out about Mason -- and both Mason and Ennis find their lives changed in a way neither of them would have anticipated.
Sound like a typical romcom? Maybe. But it's a nicely done romcom and not the type that has most sensible people grinding their teeth at the ridiculousness of the characters' actions. Especially refreshing is the movie's refusal to make Davis the classic “bad boyfriend.” Instead he's presented as a genuinely nice guy who is quite sympathetic but unfortunately not the type of person to whom Ennis is likely to be attracted. He even has a scene in which he recognizes this and deals with it in a mature fashion.
This film very easily could have been awful in different hands and I suspect the recent made-for-TV remake is not quite as interesting as the original. The original, unfortunately, has never gained the same attention as the more famous holiday films of the 1940s -- Holiday Inn, It's a Wonderful Life, and of course, Miracle on 34th Street. But that doesn't mean it deserves to be passed over either.
Just don't judge the movie by the DVD cover. Or for that matter, by this poster:
Labels: Janet Leigh, Negocio de Vacaciones, Películas Clásicas I, Películas Navideñas I, Robert Mitchum
posted by Tonio Kruger at 1:54 PM
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